Dangerousness hearing continued in Marlborough alleged attack

Friday

Feb 28, 2014 at 6:15 AM

By Kendall HatchDaily News Staff

MARLBOROUGH – A Marlborough man accused of attempted murder and sexual assault will spend the weekend in jail, as his dangerousness hearing Thursday was continued until next week.Frederico B. Santos, 32, of 220 Lincoln St. Apt. B, was arrested on several charges Saturday after police said he attacked a woman he knows, beating her, strangling her and sexually assaulting her. During Santos' arraignment on Monday, a Marlborough District Court judge scheduled a Thursday hearing to determine whether Santos is too dangerous to be released pending trial.The dangerousness hearing was supposed to begin at 11 a.m., but did not get underway until 2 p.m. After two hours of testimony, the attorneys and Judge James Lemire agreed to continue the hearing until Monday. At that point, testimony had finished up for Marlborough Police Officer Tyler McElman, the first of four witnesses to be called during the hearing, and the second witness, Marlborough Detective Brian Cox, was still on the stand.Defense Attorney Kenneth Gross still has two witnesses of his own to call on Monday.Testimony on Thursday centered around the police investigation.Police said that Santos, early on Saturday morning, entered the woman's home through an unlocked door. Santos and the woman argued before punching her repeatedly. The woman told police that Santos then dragged her outside, strangled and sexually assaulted her before she fled back into the house.McElman, on the witness stand Thursday, said that the woman, with obvious injuries and accompanied by a male friend, came into the police station shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday to report the assault.McElman said that after interviewing the woman, police were able to identify Santos and went to his apartment, where they got no answer. They later pulled him over and arrested him after a detective watched him leave his apartment.Cox said that in a later interview, the woman told him that Santos had sent her harassing text messages. Cox said that the woman told him that Santos could send messages from what appeared to be other people and remotely erase the messages from a recipient's phone afterward.In cross-examining McElman, Gross tried to cast doubt on the woman's reports to police. He asked McElman if he had heard that the woman had told her family that she sustained her injuries in a car accident. McElman said that he hadn't, but later said that the injuries could be consistent with someone who was in a car crash.Gross also asked McElman if he had heard about text messages allegedly from the woman to Santos asking him to come over because another man was going to kill her – McElman said he had.Gross also referenced a communication the police had received from someone claiming that the apparent victim has lied to police in the past about assault reports, while Assistant District Attorney Melissa Baima referenced another series of texts between the woman and another friend that matched much of the information she provided to police.Lemire, meanwhile, showed frustration with the pace of the hearing and with the fact that Santos would be held over the weekend before his hearing could be concluded. When Gross asked him if the hearing should be continued to Monday, Lemire told him, "Your client is the one whose rights are being compromised."Santos is facing charges of armed burglary, assault and battery, attempted murder, vandalizing property, assault to rape, driving with a suspended or revoked license, stalking, indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and furnishing a false name or social security number.Kendall Hatch can be reached at 508-490-7453 or khatch@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kendall_HatchMW.

Market Place

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA ~ 33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01701 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service